The Good, Bad and the Ugly

Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns broke Troy’s record of 25 straight home opener wins with the 37-24 victory Saturday night. In between the lines, the Cajun’s performance left a few more questions to be answered going in to this week’s game against Oklahoma State.

On a night were the Cajun’s lost their starting quarterback Blaine Gautier and the defense gave up over 588-yards of total offense to Troy, UL found a way to win the football game. In between the lines, the game took many twists of highs and lows; The Cajun Redzone looks back at last night’s victory and the good, bad and ugly moments of the game.

The Good

The “Streak” is over!
The Cajuns win ended a 25-game Troy win streak in home openers, including 21 straight under current head coach Larry Blakeney. The Cajuns battled through a little adversity in a hostile environment and found a way to win the game on the road. Coach Hudspeth has started a little streak of his own now, going 2-0 over Troy and Coach Blakeney in his first two years at UL.

QB Terrance Broadway
Terrance Broadway came off the bench to relieve an injured Blaine Gautier in the first quarter and led the Cajuns to the win, completing 10-of-16 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown while also rushing eight times for 43 yards. The most important number in his stats was zero turnovers.

RB Alonzo Harris
With Montrell Carter’s season coming to an end after a serious knee injury, Alonzo Harris answered the bell rushing for 137 yards and a touchdown against the Trojans. Harris ran hard all night and showed some speed on his 50-yard run at the end of the four quarter.

Brett Baer and Special Teams
Brett Baer and the Cajun’s special teams units continue to have an outstanding year. Baer hit three more field goals breaking the Sun Belt record for consecutive field goals made with 18 going back to last season. In addition to his field goals, Baer averaged 43.3 yards on seven punts, including a career-long 69-yard punt to open the fourth quarter.

Special teams pinned the Trojans inside the 20-yard line four times and three fair catches. The kick-off coverage team also had 2 touchbacks on kick-offs.

The Bad

Third-Down Conversions

The Cajuns offense only converted for first downs on 5-of-15 third downs. This is not a ratio that is going to help your team win many games.

Poor Tackling
Some of the poor tackling can be attributed to amount of time the defense spent on the field throughout the game. But the poor tackling didn’t begin in the third or fourth quarters, it began early in the game. While the defensive played with intensity, the poor tackling extended Troy’s offensive drives at times.

Drop Passes
While Blaine Gautier got off to a slow start again, over throwing several open receivers including a wide open Darryl Surgent in the end zone in the first quarter, it was dropped passes that cost the Cajuns two possible scores. Jamal Robinson dropped a sure pass in the end zone from Terrance Broadway and Javone Lawson dropped another on a critical third down play.

The Ugly

Pass Defense
No matter how nice it is to get a win on the road, it is never acceptable to give up 528-yards passing to the opponent’s offense. This needs to improve if the Cajuns are going to have a chance against Oklahoma State.

Third Down Conversions Defense
Again the defense allowed the Trojan offense to convert on 12-of-21 third down conversions. The defense will need to do a better job of putting pressure on the quarterback against Oklahoma State if the Cajuns intend on staying in the game against the Cowboys.